


something good can work

by orphan_account



Category: Kagerou Project
Genre: Attempted Rape/Non-Con (Implied), Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-16
Updated: 2014-02-16
Packaged: 2018-01-12 15:39:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1190550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kano gets himself into a lot of shitty situations. Fortunately, this time he gets a friend out of it. Sort of. </p><p>(Or the 'I'm pretending to be your bff bc you looked VERY uncomfortable with that person hitting on you' AU.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	something good can work

Kano was sitting outside, slouched on the same park bench he occupied every Sunday evening. It was a weird habit he’d picked up as a kid, when his mom had been too stressed out to deal with him. He would slip out of the house and wait on the same bench until she came looking for him. If she didn’t, he would sneak back in past midnight. 

It seemed like tonight was going to be one of those nights. It was past eleven, and Kano was still staring at the streetlights. The sounds of the city had dimmed to a low murmur, and lights flicked out among the grids of windows. 

Aside from the sound of cars, and the ordinary city sounds, there was only the occasional noise of raucous laughter or loud yelling. A group of boys were smoking at the end of the block, and a couple was passionately kissing behind the trees nearby. A shapeless mass was staked out on one of the benches down the street, beside a shopping cart filled with plastic bags.

On all accounts, it was a normal city night. There was another explosion of noise from the group at the corner, and Kano glanced over. A new voice was among them now, too low for Kano to make out the words. There was loud laughter in response.

Kano found himself getting to his feet, curiosity getting the better of him. It was an incredibly stupid thing to do, but he edged closer, trying to listen into the conversation.

“Hey, c’mon, don’t be like that!” one of the guys called loudly. 

“Don’t touch me,” said the new voice, still quieter than the others, and Kano could make out a flash of dark hair among the mostly taller figures. 

“We just wanna talk, y’know…” one of the voices answered.

“Yeah, let’s hang out, we’ve got a place just a few blocks away,” another chimed in. 

“No, thanks,” the voice answered coolly. “Please get out of my way,”

“What? D’you think you’re too good for us or somethin’? We were just trying to help out,” on

“Yeah, why do you hafta be so rude about it, huh?”

“Don’t touch me,” the voice said again, louder this time, but more panicked, shaking just a little. 

The words were out of Kano’s mouth before he could think. “Hey, there you are! I’ve been waiting for you for ages!”

The group turned, some of them slower than others, and Kano quickly counted. All seven of them were moving to form a semi-circle around him. And they were all taller than he was. He cursed inwardly, but kept his smile carefully in place. He was good at that. If he was smart about it, maybe he could lie his way out of this.

The quieter voice must have belonged to the girl in in the center of them all. She had long, dark hair, held back on one side with some kind of fluffy ribbon. Her light blue dress and heels both looked fancy and expensive. Definitely not the kind of girl who would usually be found around here. She was staring at Kano warily, her hands clutching at her skirts and shoulders tensed.

“Who the fuck are you?” one of the boys asked. He was at least a foot taller than Kano, with dark hair and narrowed, pale eyes. 

“Well,” Kano said slowly, fabricating a story as fast he could. “I’m her boyfriend… We were supposed to meet a couple hours ago, but she was late. What happened?” he directed this last question to the girl, praying she’d play along. 

She was still looking at him suspiciously, but she nodded. “Yeah… I got a little lost, sorry,” she said nervously. It was unconvincing as hell, but luckily none of the others noticed. 

“Huhhh? You’re going out with a scrawny brat like this?” another guy laughed. This one was also taller than Kano, though not quite as huge as the other. 

“Yeah, we’ve been going out since we were kids!” Kano invented wildly, his grin still fixed in place. “Come on, let’s go… It’s late, we should be on our way,” He reached out, offering his hand to her. 

She frowned for a moment, clearly considering. But she didn’t hesitate for more than a second before taking his hand, letting him pull her closer to his side. 

“We’ll be going now. Thanks for looking out for her!” Kano said cheerfully, clutching the girl’s hand and making to turn away. If this didn’t work, they were going to run fast. He hoped she wouldn’t be too crippled by her high heels. 

There was a moment of clear deliberation in the group as the guys glanced at each other. Wondering whether to go after them or not. In the end the tall one with the light eyes spoke up. 

“Yeah, sure. Come back here if you ever need a good time, sweetheart!”

The rest of the group laughed, and Kano grinned at them before turning and walking very quickly in the opposite direction, the girl keeping up with him easily.

As soon as they’d turned a corner into a brightly lit street, she dropped his hand and glared at him. Her shoulders were still tensed, and her arms crossed tightly across her chest. “Who are you? Why did you help me?”

“Kano. I saw you getting hit on by some assholes. Human decency,” Kano said airily, pretending his heart wasn’t thundering in his ears.

Her brow crinkled in confusion. “You made that whole story up,” she said.

“Well, yeah. Unless you actually remember me as your long-lost childhood boyfriend or something,” Kano laughed, and she shook her head.

“No. But, well. Thank you,” the words at the end were grudging, but sincere. She was eyeing him with slightly less distrust, now that they were a good two feet apart.

“You’re welcome,” Kano grinned. “Were you really lost, or…?”

The girl nodded. The motion made her hair catch the light, and Kano noticed with some surprise that it seemed to be a dark shade of green. “I…was running away,” she explained. “I didn’t really think about where I was going, and I ended up farther than I thought,”

“Where do you want to get back to?” he asked, carefully not asking her actual address. 

She watched him for a second, then unwound her arms ever-so-slightly. Then she named one of the richest neighborhoods in the city, a good forty blocks uptown. 

“I figured,” Kano sighed. Then he blinked. “You ran all the way down here?”

She shrugged. “I wasn’t thinking, like I said,”

“In heels?” he asked incredulously, and she smiled very slightly. She really was very pretty when she did that. Kano tried not to let this observation show on his face. 

“I’ve learned not to let them bother me,” she answered. “It took a while,”

“Well, I can help you get back there, if you want. Or if you want directions…”

She shook her head. “I have a phone,” she replied, pulling it from some hidden pocked in her skirt.

He gaped. “Why didn’t you call the police or something?” he demanded.

“I had my hand around it most of the time,” she admitted. “But I was afraid they might break it or something, and then I’d really be in trouble,” 

That made sense, but he still felt like she should have threatened to call the authorities on them first.  
“I guess,” he said. “Well, if you can get home on your own, I guess I’ll leave you to it?” he posed it as a question, not sure if he was making her feel worse or better by hanging around.

“Uh,” she said, and she her cheeks reddened with embarrassment. “Would you mind, uh. Waiting?  
Until they get here?”

He tried not to joke, but in the end he couldn’t help it. “Can’t stand to be without me already?” he asked, pressing a hand to his heart. 

She punched him in the arm. Hard.

“Ow,” he said, mostly out of pain, partly out of surprise.

She stared at him, looking halfway between unimpressed and mortified. It was a very strange expression.

“So, uh. I guess this means I’ll stay,” he said cautiously, trying not to laugh. “I don’t have anywhere to be, anyway,” It was probably still only around midnight.

She nodded, then pressed her phone to her ear, turning in the other direction to talk into the receiver. He watched the street behind her as she talked, trying not to listen in on her conversation.

After a moment or two, she tucked the phone back into her pocked and turned to him. “Someone will be here in a few minutes,” she explained. 

“Cool,” Kano said. “And, uh. Do you know what time it is?”

She looked surprised, but took her phone out again to check. “It’s twelve-thirty,” she answered. “Why do you want to know?”

He shrugged. “Should be home before two, I guess. I have school tomorrow,” 

“Yeah,” she muttered, watching the street. “I do, too,”

This surprised him, weirdly enough. But even rich kids had to go to school. Still, he had to ask. “You go to school?” 

She shrugged. “Homeschooled. But I still have to do it from eight to three,” she replied. “And I can’t wear my pajamas or anything. It’s not as fun as people think,” Her mouth turned down a little at the corners, and she stared out at the street. 

Kano imagined it was like heaven. But then again, he thrived on people; watching them, laughing at them, fooling them. “Yeah,” he said finally. “I can see that,”

They stood in silence after that, waiting for a car to turn the corner. It was a good fifteen minutes before the headlights washed over them. 

He had expected a fancy black car, and was not disappointed. It wasn’t a limo, but it was large and shiny enough to scream ‘expensive’. The door opened, and a man got out, inclining his head toward the girl. Then he walked around and held the door open, just like a chauffeur on the TV. 

He had expected her to show relief, maybe a sigh or smile. But she stayed just as serious as she walked toward the car. Just before stepping off the curb, she turned back. “Is there anywhere you need to go?” she asked.

“Nah, I live a few blocks away,” he answered, waving his hand in the general direction of his apartment. 

The girl nodded, glancing toward the driver, then back again. “Thank you,” she said quietly, eyes on the ground. “I’m glad you were there,” 

“Me, too,” he said honestly. 

“Yeah,” she paused for a moment, clearly hesitating. “I’m Kido Tsubomi, by the way,” she said finally. “It was nice to meet you,”

He nodded, and she stepped away, climbing into the car. The driver returned to his seat, and the car pulled away, driving down the street and disappearing within a few seconds.

He watched for a few moments. Then he turned back, and began walking home.

**Author's Note:**

> i was kinda conflicted about kano callin himself kido's boyfriend... but in the end i left it. i wanna make them best friends n include seto oh man. i might i dunno though!!


End file.
